The first time I remember going camping, was down to Ballina, N.S.W when I was a kid in a 12 ft x 12 ft canvas tent. After that I had a couple of trips to Fraser with a church group during my teenage years, some twenty years ago. Other than that, the family would borrow either grandparents caravan and go for holidays in caravan parks, also twenty years ago. Up until meeting my wife, I had not been camping since then and some friends gave us some money for a wedding present to put towards a tent so we could go camping with them and we have not stopped since then.

I got into camping when I was in my late teens because it was the only way I could afford to travel. Camped with friends in Germany, Denmark and Spain. In little dome tents with hardly any other gear.

Then my now ex and I did a bicycle trip from Ghent/Belgium to Luxembourg and that was the first time I 'free camped'. I'll never forget the night when we set up our little tent in a paddock with long grass and suddenly saw lights coming towards us and just managed to stop the massive mower/harvester from going over our tent!

My first solo trip was a bicycle trip in Ireland. Good memories, even though it rained pretty much every night and the tent leaked. Also gave caravan parks a wide berth on that trip and I still remember some of the wonderful sites I camped at.

Actually that was probably the only time I camped solo. After I came to Oz I went camping with my ex a few times and after we split up I got my dog and then my child. And now it's a very different kind of camping with all our gear compared to when I fit it all on my push bike!

Lin, that must have been interesting, and I love the simplicity.I cannot remember my first camping experience.I actually lived for a while in a house with a Earth stamped floor.We use to sleep down in the paddock next to the river on warm nights.Maybe that's where it started.When I was young we spent most of our free time just scrubbing it for want of a better word.Memories. Titch

My very 'first' camping trip as an adult was in the back of an old Toyota Ute and it was a free camp on the side of the road up near Kilarney.....

I was convinced there was an axe murderer living in the shack up the road and consequently packed up in the middle of the night and moved to a more populated area. Spent the next couple of nights in a CP at Peregian Beach….still in the back of the ute though, complete with a small holey tarp, borrowed card table, garden chairs, gas stove and light and little else.

Not sure where my fear came from as being the daughter of a drover I spent many, many nights (years in fact) camped up on the side of the road in the outback.

I was in the shops looking for a beach shelter and saw a tent on sale. Impulse buy!

- its inexpensive (other then set-up which is as expensive as you choose!)- you get to travel and meet people (some amazing people!)- you get to see wonderful things - man made and natural- educational - you learn geography, social history, etc- life skills - learning how to pitch a tent, start a fire, fishing, independence etc- healthy - lots of exercise in the outdoors, food is better- better for the environment - no aircon! lol

my memory of camping was when i was a child. Camping then was nothing like what camping today is!! There was no caravan and fridge and all the mod cons. There wasn't even a tent as such, just a piece of canvas tarpaulin draped over the fence and jammed into the car doors to form a shelter. No stretchers, just a mattress for Mum and Dad and a couple of kids, the other two kids slept on the seats of the car! There was no fridge, and I'm not sure how they kept food safe to eat but we never got food poisoning. We ate a lot of seafood and fish. We camped mainly at the beach or river. These were very happy times. Wonderful memories of our camping trips!

We did it as kids .. Every 2nd weekend we would pack up and go !! We did alot of waterskiing so was alot of fun .. When my step father wasn't in a mood lol ..we had 4 families that would all go together so lots of kids .. Would do 6 weeks at Xmas time too .. And they are my fondest memories as a kid ..my hubby never did it as a kid but our first trip together was only about 3 months into our relationship then Fraser fir our honeymoon .. Then we had 4 kids in 5 years so didn't do alot then but over last 12 months we have bought our camper and try to get away as much as we can .. Our kids love it so hopefully they will have the same sort of memories I do ..